Published 4:00 am, Friday, April 7, 2006

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In this photograph from video, Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., stands on the floor of the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 6, 2006 as she apologizes for her earlier altercation with a Capitol Hill police officer. (AP Photo/House TV via AP Television) PHOTO FROM VIDEO less

In this photograph from video, Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., stands on the floor of the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 6, 2006 as she apologizes for her earlier ... more

2006-04-07 04:00:00 PDT Washington -- Under increasing pressure from House Democratic leaders, Rep. Cynthia McKinney took to the House floor Thursday to apologize for an incident in which she allegedly assaulted a Capitol police officer at a security checkpoint.

Since the incident last week, not one of McKinney's fellow 200 House Democratic colleagues had publicly defended her conduct in the incident, in which the African American representative from Georgia claims she was the victim of racial profiling at an entrance to the Longworth House Office Building.

The House's top Democrat, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, distanced herself from McKinney and publicly expressed increasing exasperation Thursday just before McKinney issued her apology. McKinney's case had become a distraction for Democrats, who want to keep the focus on what they see as a corrupt and ineffective Republican-led Congress symbolized by former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who announced his resignation earlier this week.

The incident with McKinney began when she tried to go around a security checkpoint, as members of Congress are entitled to do. She wasn't wearing her members' lapel pin, and it appears an officer did not recognize her.

She was challenged, but didn't stop. When an officer tried to stop her, and apparently touched her, McKinney allegedly struck the officer in front of witnesses.

As the furor over the incident mounted in recent days, a federal grand jury was convened to consider possible charges against McKinney involving assaulting an officer. Witnesses to the incident, including an aide to Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, testified Thursday before the grand jury.

McKinney, who has been embroiled in other controversies in her six House terms, tried to defuse the latest incident with Thursday's remarks.

"There should not have been any physical contact in this incident," McKinney said in a one-minute statement on the House floor. "I am sorry that this misunderstanding happened at all, and I regret its escalation and I apologize," she added, surrounded by a small group of Democrats, including Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland.

Just an hour earlier, Pelosi made it clear that McKinney -- who since the incident has appeared daily on TV talk shows to publicize her claims of racial prejudice by the Capitol police -- wasn't getting sympathy from the Democratic leadership.

"I don't see any conceivable reason why anyone would strike a Capitol police officer. I have the greatest respect for the Capitol police," Pelosi told reporters.

Pelosi said the 535 members of the House and Senate have to help the police on Capitol Hill, where security has increased so much since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that officers toting long-barrel assault weapons patrol the grounds. "Members have a responsibility to help protect the Capitol, Congress and our constituents who visit us here," she added.

It also didn't help McKinney that House members from both parties and all races said they have also been challenged by police when they weren't wearing their lapel pins.

Baby-faced 31-year-old Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., said some officers just can't believe he's a congressman. McKinney's fellow Georgian and Democrat, civil rights pioneer Rep. John Lewis, has also been stopped, and reportedly told her to stop making an issue out of the incident.

Rules Committee chairman Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas (Los Angeles County), said he often doesn't wear his pin and gets stopped, especially when he enters on the Capitol's Senate side.

After the vote, another of the members who stood with McKinney when she apologized said he hoped the storm had passed. "It's what a lot of members hoped she would do. It takes us toward putting this to rest," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio.

Pelosi's deputy, House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., agreed. "Hopefully this will put it to rest. This was a small item. We have huge crises facing our country," Hoyer said.

There was no reaction from federal prosecutors on whether McKinney's apology will have any effect on the grand jury proceedings.